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The original text of the Preamble, before the 42nd Amendment) of the Constitution

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizens. It is the longest[1] written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 448[Note 1][2] articles in 25[Note 2]parts, 12[Note 3] schedules, 5 appendices and 98[Note 4] amendments (out of 120[3] Constitution Amendment Bills). Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is widely regarded as the father of the Indian Constitution.

The Constitution follows parliamentary system of government and the executive is directly accountable to the legislature. Article 74 provides that there shall be a Prime Minister of India as the head of government.

It also states that there shall be a President of Indiaand a Vice-President of India under Articles 52 and 63. Unlike the Prime Minister, the President largely performs ceremonial roles.

The Constitution of India is federal in nature. Each state and each Union territory of India has its own government. Analogues to President and Prime Minister, each has a Governor (in case of states) or Lieutenant Governor (in the case of Union territories) and aChief Minister. The 73rd and 74th Amendment Act also introduced the system of Panchayati Raj in rural areas and Municipality in urban areas. Also, Article 370 of the Constitution gives special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir